Read More: Jaime Garcia (P – STL), Bud Norris (P – HOU), Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets

The St. Louis Cardinals dropped the first of their three-game set against the Houston Astros on Friday night, but they get a chance on Saturday to even the series and to prevent the Houston Astros from setting a six-game winning streak at home. Houston hasn’t won six straight contests at home since August of 2010, so it will be up to Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia (2-1, 2.78 ERA) to keep the Astros away from hitting that mark again. He will be opposed by 27-year old right-hander, Bud Norris (1-1, 5.46 ERA), who is coming off a strong outing of 6.2 innings, seven strikeouts, one walk and three earned runs against the New York Mets on Monday.

Here is some basic information to help you find the broadcast on Saturday night:

Starters: Jaime Garcia (2-1, 2.78 ERA) vs. Bud Norris (1-1, 5.46 ERA)

Game Date & Time: Saturday, May 5, 6:05 p.m. CT

Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX

TV: Fox Sports Midwest

Radio: AM 1120 KMOX (click here for full list of affiliates)

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, head over to Viva El Birdos, SB Nation’s Cards blog. Astros news and analysis is available at Crawfish Boxes. Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louisfor more breaking news and updates concerning all matters St. Louis sports, and MLB Daily Dish for all your MLB rumors and news.

 CHICAGO — Joe Mather’s two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning lifted the Chicago Cubs to a 3-2 comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

St. Louis closer Jason Motte (1-1) had the Cubs down to their final strike when Mather, a former Cardinal, grounded a 2-2 slider up the middle, scoring Bryan LaHair and Geovany Soto.

LaHair battled Motte for 12 pitches before drawing a one-out walk. Motte then walked Soto, before Steve Clevenger’s grounder moved the runners up to set the plate for Mather.

Rafael Dolis (1-1) picked up the win in relief.

Jaime Garcia outdueled Matt Garza, who held St. Louis to two runs and four hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking three.

Read More: Carlos Beltran (RF – STL), Gio Gonzalez (P – WAS), Jaime Garcia (P – STL), Shane Robinson (CF – STL), Tony Cruz (C – STL), Matt Carpenter (3B – STL), Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals were impressive at the plate and in the field on Thursday afternoon in dispatching the Washington Nationals 9-0. Jaime Garcia pitched five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and striking out nine Nats hitters.

Related: St. Louis Cardinals Rank No. 11 In Forbes’ Team Value Rankings

Washington starter Gio Gonzalez had a terrible outing, and by the time he exited the game in the fourth inning, the game was essentially over. Gonzalez allowed eight runs on 10 hits and four walks.

Matt Carpenter and Tony Cruz were 3-3 on the day, while Carlos Beltran and Shane Robinson each had two-hit games.

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, head over to Viva El Birdos, SB Nation’s Cards blog. Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more breaking news and updates concerning all matters St. Louis sports, and MLB Daily Dish for all your MLB rumors and news.

St. Louis Cardinals prospect Shelby Miller made his spring training debut yesterday. Though he was shaky in the first inning, a start he attributed to nerves, he settled down and impressed manager Mike Matheny in the rest of his outing. Matheny stated that he liked what he saw from Miller in terms of being able to mix up various pitches.

Cardinals fans have been waiting for Miller ever since the right-handed pitcher was drafted in the first round in the 2009 draft. Coming out of Brownwood, Texas, Miller brings an impressive fastball and is working on developing other pitchers. In his first full year in pro ball, 2010, Miller struck out 140 hitters in 104 innings, an eye-popping 12.1 K/9 innings. Last year Miller made 25 starts in two different leagues and struck out 170 in 139 innings, resulting in another impressive K/9 rate of 10.9.

At this point it would be a huge surprise if the Cardinals kept Miller on the 25-man roster entering the regular season. Some major development, such as a season-ending injury to a starter, would have to happen, and even then it’s more likely the Cards would take the cautious route and allow Miller more time to work on his game in AAA this year.

Fortunately for the Cardinals there is no pressing need for Miller right now. With starters Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook, the team has a deep and experienced starting rotation. The team felt confident enough in this group of pitchers that it made no real attempt to re-sign Edwin Jackson, who signed a one-year deal with the Nationals.

Miller is only 21. Pitchers with the talents to become a team’s #1 starter don’t come around too often, and I applaud the team’s approach with this player. Lohse and Westbrook can become free agents after this season, so there seems to be a spot for Miller in the 2013 St. Louis rotation.

Many baseball publications rank Miller as one of the top prospects in MLB. Hopefully Cardinals fans will enjoy watching him pitch in St. Louis for many years. It just won’t start this year.

A native of St. Louis, Brad Boeker has rooted for the Cardinals for over 40 years.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Read More: Jake Westbrook (P – STL), Octavio Dotel (P – STL), Kyle Lohse (P – STL), Edwin Jackson (P – STL), Rafael Furcal (SS – STL), Albert Pujols (1B – STL), Adam Wainwright (P – STL), Arthur Rhodes (P – STL), Jaime Garcia (P – STL), St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have offered salary arbitration to franchise cornerstone Albert Pujols (Type A) and starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (Type B), but have declined to make offers to Rafael Furcal (Type B) and relief pitcher Arthur Rhodes (Type B), per a Twitter report from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The only remaining player subject to arbitration is relief pitcher Octavio Dotel, but the team is not required to offer salary arbitration to Dotel because his compensation status was adjusted downward from Type A to Type B by the league on Tuesday.

The decision to approve or decline salary arbitration does not act as a proxy for the team’s interest in keeping each player in a Cardinals uniform, as MLB.com explains:

Of the four, the Cardinals retain some interest in return engagements with Dotel and Furcal, and possibly Rhodes, but Jackson isn’t expected to return. The Cardinals have five starting pitchers under contract for 2012 — Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook — and traded for Jackson with the expectation that he would depart via free agency.    

As noted by Dan Moore of SB Nation St. Louis earlier in the week, Albert Pujols is not expected to accept salary arbitration, and the site will have timely updates on any decisions made the other players and all other off-season moves as well.

For more updates and analysis on the St. Louis Cardinals, check out Viva El Birdos. Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more breaking news on all matters St. Louis sports. For MLB Off-Season news make sure to visit MLB Daily Dish.

Read More: Ben Francisco (RF – PHI), Cole Hamels (P – PHI), Ryan Madson (P – PHI), Brad Lidge (P – PHI), Roy Oswalt (P – PHI), Edwin Jackson (P – STL), Ryan Theriot (SS – STL), Albert Pujols (1B – STL), Jason Motte (P – STL), Jaime Garcia (P – STL), Fernando Salas (P – STL), Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals

Jaime Garcia matched Cole Hamels for six scoreless innings until Ben Francisco’s three-run pinch-hit home run staked the Phillies to a lead and the Cardinals’ ninth-inning rally was too-little, too-late Tuesday afternoon. The Redbirds scattered 12 hits and wasted a three-double night from Albert Pujols—not to mention a four-hit day from platoon second baseman Ryan Theriot—managing just two runs from four hits against Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson in the eighth and ninth innings. 

Garcia was having one of his most economical outings of the season until the home run broke things up—he spread 100 pitches across seven innings, while the Cardinals got Hamels to throw 117 in six scoreless. Fernando Salas and Jason Motte each threw a scoreless inning in the loss.

The Cardinals will attempt to stave off elimination Wednesday at 5:00 CDT when Edwin Jackson toes the mound against Roy Oswalt, the Phillies’ ersatz fourth starter. New Busch Stadium will get its second look at an elimination game—the first since they were swept in the 2009 NLDS, and got a single game on the field christened by the 2006 World Series championships. 

Tuesday night the St. Louis Cardinals finally got the Edwin Jackson they traded Colby Rasmus to acquire, and then some; the starter allowed just one run over seven innings, didn’t walk a batter, and drove in the team’s first run with a bases-loaded single to top the Milwaukee Brewers, putting the on-the-edge Cardinals to 9.5 games back in the National League Central. Jon Jay drove in the other run for the Cardinals, who improved to 71-64. Shaun Marcum, who didn’t allow a single earned run, was the hard-luck loser; he falls to 11-5 on the season.

The middle of the Cardinals’ order was 0-10, but the back of the order, including recently dropped shortstop Rafael Furcal, delivered in the fifth inning after taking advantage of two fifth-inning errors. Jackson, following up a Yadier Molina single, broke through with a single, and Jon Jay scored Furcal with a sacrifice fly to end the scoring for St. Louis. 

Jake Westbrook and Randy Wolf will meet Wednesday to continue the series, which ends with the Cardinals sending rookie Brandon Dickson—currently still a member of the Memphis Redbirds—up against Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo. Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia is being skipped in the rotation after a rough August that featured a 6.84 ERA. 

Clayton Kershaw won his National League-leading 16th game and Rod Barajas homered twice in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 13-2 victory over the fast-fading St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Kyle Lohse (11-8) was rocked for a season-worst eight runs in three innings, an impossible deficit against the 23-year-old Kershaw, who struck out eight in six scoreless innings. The Cardinals have lost six of eight and dropped a season-high 10 games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers.

Matt Kemp hit a three-run homer in the first and Barajas had a solo homer in the third and three-run shot in the fifth for his 11th multihomer game, also giving him four in five games. The Dodgers hit a season-high four homers while winning consecutive games in St. Louis for the first time since July 9-10, 2003, and will go for a three-game sweep on Wednesday behind Hiroki Kuroda.

Kershaw (16-6) is 8-1 with a 1.21 ERA in his last nine starts and hiked his NL-leading strikeout total to 207. The Cardinals threatened twice, but Kershaw struck out Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman with two on to end the first and struck out the side in the fourth to negate a double, infield hit and walk.

Kemp also doubled and scored in the second and needs one homer to become the second player in franchise history with 30 homers and 30 steals. Barajas is batting .381 (16-for-42) in August with five homers, three doubles and 16 RBIs in 13 games.

Yadier Molina and Rafael grounded into double plays to give the Cardinals 139 on the year, by far the most in the majors. Second baseman Skip Schumaker pitched the ninth and surrendered a solo homer to Aaron Miles, who had been the last Cardinals position player to pitch, twice last season.

Lohse had been 5-1 with a 2.98 ERA against NL West opponents before coming up empty, with half of the Dodgers’ eight hits for extra bases. The right-hander had won his previous three decisions.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa passed on a chance to cut into Kershaw’s cushion when he allowed reliever Mitchell Boggs to bat with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth. Boggs struck out on three pitches.

Notes: Kuroda (9-14, 2.88) has won his last two decisions heading into Wednesday’s matchup against Jaime Garcia (10-6, 3.45), who’s struggled this month with a 5.48 ERA. … Cardinals RHP Jason Motte has made 27 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run. … St. Louis SS made an outstanding play in the hole, going into the hole and making a strong throw that just beat Juan Rivera. … Kershaw reached 200 strikeouts the seventh earliest date in franchise history. Sandy Koufax has the five fastest, three of them in July.

By Dan Moore

– Managing Editor

Follow , and

Like SB Nation St. Louis on Facebook.

Aug 22, 2011 – 8.5 games behind the surging Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central, the St. Louis Cardinals find themselves engaged in yet another must-win series Monday as the Los Angeles Dodgers come to Busch Stadium for a three-game series. Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, and Jaime Garcia will take the mound for the Cardinals, who will face top Dodger dogs Clayton Kershaw and Hiroki Kuroda in games two and three. 

The Cardinals could be without one of their two Dodgers shortstop imports early in the series, as Rafael Furcal continues to feel the effects of a sprained thumb suffered pre-game in the Cardinals’ series with the Cubs. Ryan Theriot, the former Dodger Furcal replaced, could start in his absence, although the team seems to see him primarily as a second baseman after an awful defensive season. 

The Cardinals are 10-9 in August after going 24-28 in June and July, but the rebound hasn’t been enough to catch the surging Brewers. The two teams will play six games head-to-head in the final month of the season. 

Read More: Kyle Lohse (P – STL), Rafael Furcal (SS – STL), Chris Carpenter (P – STL), Hiroki Kuroda (P – LOS), Jaime Garcia (P – STL), Clayton Kershaw (P – LOS), St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers

Follow , and

Like SB Nation St. Louis on Facebook.

Do you like this story?

Read More: Jason Hammel (P – COL), Edwin Jackson (P – STL), Carlos Gonzalez (LF – COL), Jaime Garcia (P – STL), Chris Nelson (SS – COL), Marc Rzepczynski (P – STL), Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals

Jaime Garcia allowed five runs in five innings and the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t quite rally, losing 6-1 to a Colorado Rockies club that never let up after putting up three early runs on the Cardinals’ young ace. Garcia walked four and allowed a crucial home run to Carlos Gonzalez, and the Cardinals didn’t find themselves on the board until a rally in the seventh inning that was stopped short after one run following an outstanding play from third baseman Chris Nelson. Marc Rzepczynski, back in a long relief role after the acquisition of Arthur Rhodes, was the lone bright spot, allowing one hit in three scoreless innings in relief of Garcia. 

Rafael Furcal reached base twice and Ryan Theriot and Skip Schumaker doubled for the Cardinals, whose offense fell off after strong performances over the last week from their big three of Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman. Gonzalez drove in four for the Rockies, who improved to 56-65 on the back of a strong performance from Jason Hammel. 

Edwin Jackson gets the Sunday start for the Cardinals, who can’t afford to lose any more ground to the Milwaukee Brewers—winners of a 1-0 nail biter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. 

ST. LOUIS — Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run homer, Jason Hammel pitched into the seventh inning and the Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 on Saturday night.

Gonzalez also doubled in a run in the ninth to help the Rockies snap a three-game slide. Colorado also had dropped their last five games in St. Louis by a combined 22-3 score.

Left-hander Jaime Garcia had a rare off night at home as St. Louis fell five games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Gonzalez went deep in the third inning, sending an 0-2 pitch over the wall in right for his 18th homer. He also became the first lefty batter to connect against Garcia since Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard accomplished the feat on July 21, 2010.

Gonzalez also homered in Friday night’s 6-1 loss and has three homers in his last six games. The Rockies have homered in their last six road games.

Garcia (10-6) gave up five runs and six hits in five innings, dropping to 6-3 with a 2.06 ERA in 11 home starts this season.

Hammel (7-11) allowed one run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings to earn his first win since July 29 at San Diego.

David Freese drove in Matt Holliday with a fielder’s choice and Yadier Molina singled to put runners on first and second before Hammel was replaced by Josh Roenicke.

Third baseman Chris Nelson then started an inning-ending double play with a diving catch on Ryan Theriot’s line drive.

Todd Helton hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to push Colorado’s lead to 5-0.

Garcia is 0-2 with a 17.28 ERA this season against the Rockies. He gave up a career-high 11 earned runs in a 15-4 loss at Colorado on May 28.

Albert Pujols, who entered the game 2 for 2 against Hammel, went 0 for 2 with a walk against the right-hander.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia delivers to the Colorado Rockies during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011, in St. Louis.

Photo by The Associated Press.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run homer, Jason Hammel pitched into the seventh inning Saturday night and the Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1.

Gonzalez also doubled in a run in the ninth to help the Rockies snap a three-game slide. Colorado also had dropped their last five games in St. Louis by a combined 22-3 score.

Left-hander Jaime Garcia had a rare off night at home as St. Louis fell five games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Gonzalez went deep in the third inning, sending an 0-2 pitch over the wall in right for his 18th homer. He also became the first lefty batter to connect against Garcia since Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard accomplished the feat on July 21, 2010.

Gonzalez also homered in Friday night’s 6-1 loss and has three homers in his last six games. The Rockies have homered in their last six road games.

Garcia (10-6) gave up five runs and six hits in five innings, dropping to 6-3 with a 2.06 ERA in 11 home starts this season.

Hammel (7-11) allowed one run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings to earn his first win since July 29 at San Diego.

David Freese drove in Matt Holliday with a fielder’s choice and Yadier Molina singled to put runners on first and second before Hammel was replaced by Josh Roenicke.

Third baseman Chris Nelson then started an inning-ending double play with a diving catch on Ryan Theriot’s line drive.

Todd Helton hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to push Colorado’s lead to 5-0.

Garcia is 0-2 with a 17.28 ERA this season against the Rockies. He gave up a career-high 11 earned runs in a 15-4 loss at Colorado on May 28.

Albert Pujols, who entered the game 2-for 2-against Hammel, went 0-for-2 with a walk against the right-hander.

Notes: Edwin Jackson (8-8, 4.07 ERA) makes his fourth start for St. Louis against Esmil Rogers (6-1, 5.85 ERA) tonight. … St. Louis OF Allen Craig is mired in an 0-for-10 slump. … The Rockies have 33 home runs against left-handers this season, second in the NL. … Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning stopped by to visit with Helton during batting practice. The two were former football teammates the University of Tennessee.